How to Copy or Move Files and Apps to SD Card on Android

For several years, Android has made it easy to install files and applications on a microSD card. This is particularly practical on devices with little storage, or for demanding games. Want to know how to copy or move a file or application to an SD card on your smartphone? Here is a complete tutorial to understand everything.

On Android, it is possible to transfer a file or an application to an SD card, provided of course that your smartphone has a slot dedicated to microSD. This is one of the easiest ways to free up internet storage space on your smartphone. In this article, we will see together what to do.

Even if fundamentally the principle remains the same, we will first detail here the procedure to follow for the transfer of files (photos, videos, music, etc.), before tackling applications which require some additional precautions.

Copy or move a file to SD card

The simplest way to move a photo or video (for example) from the internal memory of your smartphone to the microSD is still to use a file manager. To do this, you can use the one offered natively on your device or choose one from our selection of the best file managers on Android.

How to transfer a file to microSD?

Step 1

: open your explorer and go to space Internal storage to search for the folder containing the file of your choice. Some managers offer shortcuts by theme to quickly access either only photos, only music, or only PDF documents, etc.

2nd step : keep pressed on the file you want to move until the context menu is triggered: the chosen item will then be checked with a small “V” (you can select several files during this process). Then tap the three-dot icon usually located at the top right of the screen (but this may vary depending on the application used).

Step 3: in the menu that opens in front of you, select the tab Move Or To copy (depending on what you want to do) before pressing SD card and select the folder in which you want to store it. Type OK Or To end to finalize the operation.

Move an app to SD card

Now let’s move on to the second part of this tutorial. Support for microSD cards has evolved a lot over the years on Android. Since Android 6.0 Marshmallow, Google has integrated a function called “ Adoptable Storage » which allows you to virtually merge the internal storage of a device with the additional space offered by a microSD. The goal ? Easily increase the storage space of an Android device, while ensuring transparent operation for applications that will not be able to differentiate between internal and external storage.

The advantage of this implementation is that you can choose the destination when moving files. This means that important applications like those related to your bank account, for example, can remain on internal memory, while other applications such as Waze can be switched to external memory.

Prerequisites

To follow this guide, you need a smartphone running at least Android 6.0 Marshmallow, and a good microSD card. Note that some manufacturers, such as Samsung, deactivate Adoptable Storage.

Precautions

Before going any further, you should know that Android will completely erase the content on the card, so be sure to make a backup. Also note that Adoptable Storage virtually merges the internal space of the smartphone and the storage available on the microSD. This means that the memory card will lose its removable storage status: if you remove it from the phone, some system functions and applications will stop working, and the card will not be readable on another device anyway.

It is always possible to format the card again so that it becomes just external storage again, but this will erase the data saved on it again.

Initialize the microSD card to store applications on it

IF you have just purchased a micro SD card, then simply follow the initialization process in Android by tapping the micro SD card in the notification bar.

During the process, you have to choose Storage on the phone, to install applications or transfer files as if it were the phone’s internal storage. You must then choose to format the card, which should not be a problem here since it is a new card, before you can move content to it.

How to transfer an application to the microSD?

Step 1 :

insert the memory card into the slot intended for this purpose while keeping in mind that card data will be lost when formatting. So remember to make a possible backup of the content before inserting it into the device.

2nd step : then go to Settings > Storage, where your map should now appear. Click on its label to enter the built-in file manager, then click on the three small dots (representing the context menu) located at the top right, and finally on Storage Settings.

Step 3 : among the options proposed, the one that interests us is called “ Format as internal memory “. All you have to do is press the single red button: Erase and format.

Step 4: the process may take more or less time depending on the category of your microSD card, and an error message may be displayed if the card is not fast enough.

Once the process is complete, a page offers you to move all your data to the microSD card. Note that this will only transfer media data: photos and videos. Downloaded applications Before the fusion will not be placed on the microSD card. Only those installed After will be. You can choose to Move data laterwhich will give you the freedom to move exactly what you want, manually.

Step 5 (optional) : from now on, all downloaded applications will be placed on the memory card by default. You can nevertheless put them back on the internal memory if you wish. To do this, go to Settings > Apps & notifications > App info and choose the one you want to restore to internal memory. Locate the submenu storage.

Choose to to modify the storage space used to open a pop-up which will allow you to move the application to the phone’s internal memory.

Go back

If you want to do the opposite, nothing could be simpler. However, be aware that the card will be reformatted and all your data will be lost.

The procedure is as follows:

See you again in Settings > Storage and click on the microSD card name. Go find the settings which are accessible by clicking on the three small dots at the top right and select Format as external memory. All you have to do — once the necessary backups have been made — is to press the red button which will reformat your card so that it appears as external memory.

What you must remember

Before leaving, let’s give a final reminder of the important steps to follow to transfer a file or application to the SD card.

How to move or copy a file to microSD?

• Open your file manager
• Hold down the item you want to move or copy
• Press the Menu button and choose the option Move Or To copy
• Select the destination location and you’re done!

How to move an application to microSD?

• Go to Settings Then Storage
• Click on the tab SD card and open them Storage Settings
• Tap on Format as internal memory (remember to make a backup)
• Go to Applications to choose which ones you want to put or not on the SD card

Note that not all apps can be moved to the SD card, and some features may no longer work properly if the app is moved. Also check that your SD card has enough storage space to accommodate the files and applications you want to move.

By following these simple steps, you should be able to free up space on your Android phone’s internal memory by moving your files and apps to your SD card.